Absentees Put James In Race Against Chappell

September 8, 1988|By Peter Mitchelland Shirish Date of The Sentinel Staff (Mark Vosburgh of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.)

Only U.S. Rep Bill Chappell, one of three Democratic congressional candidates in Central Florida, knows who he will face in November, and even Chappell had to wait all day Wednesday to find out.

After all absentee ballots were counted late Wednesday, DeLand attorney Craig James squeaked by in the Republican primary for Chappell's District 4 seat with barely enough votes to avoid a runoff with Tom Visconti.

But the Republican opposition for U.S. Rep. Bill Nelson's District 11 seat and the District 6 seat being sought by state House Speaker Jon Mills will be decided in an Oct. 4 runoff.

In District 11, a photo finish by the three Republican candidates forced a runoff for the two front-runners, Bill Tolley and Rod Borum, and may trigger an automatic recount of Tuesday's vote.

In District 6, Alachua lawyer Jim Cherry will face Ocala businessman Cliff Stearns in a runoff.

Mills, a Democrat from Gainesville, said Wednesday that the Republicans gave him just what he wanted.

The 6th District's GOP primary, which Mills hoped would produce ''a couple of guys bunched together at about 35 percent,'' left Cherry with 32 percent of the vote and Stearns with 27 percent.

Then, on Wednesday, they gave Mills something else he wanted: Republicans battling among themselves.

As Cherry and Stearns opened their battle for the runoff, a candidate who lost that chance was charging Cherry with ''dirty pool'' and lodging a complaint with the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Larry Gallagher, a retired car salesman from Lecanto who won 15 percent of the vote Tuesday, said Wednesday that he had called the committee's executive director, Joseph Gaylord, and complained about Cherry's use of President Reagan's picture to accompany an endorsement statement by Citizens for the Republic, a political action committee Reagan founded. It appeared, Gallagher argued, as if Reagan were endorsing Cherry.

When the issue was raised last month, a White House spokesman made it clear Reagan was endorsing no one in the primary. Cherry, a former state director of the Farmers Home Administration, defended the use of the picture at the time, saying it was clearly identified as a statement by the Citizens for the Republic.

But Gallagher said the move was ''against the protocol of the Republican Party'' Wednesday and pledged his support to Stearns.

Party spokesman Rich Galen said no action was necessary. ''I just talked to Larry,'' Galen said Wednesday. ''He understands there's nothing for us to do.''

In a six-way race that depended heavily on direct mail, Cherry was not the only one whose political literature was questioned. Stearns' literature mentioned he had served the Republican Party since 1977. What it didn't mention is that he registered Democrat in 1978 and did not change parties until 1983.

In the race for the District 4 seat, James will face Chappell, of Ormond Beach, on Nov. 8. Chappell easily beat his Democratic challenger Tuesday, but the interpretation of the victory is in the mind of the beholder.

On one hand, Chappell overwhelmed Charley Roberts, taking 70 percent of the nearly 70,000 Democratic votes cast. Chappell said Tuesday he would have been happy with 60 percent, and the landslide showed that Democrats in the 4th District ''know a lie when they hear it.''

On the other hand, Chappell spent about $300,000 campaigning -- about 60 times as much as was spent by Roberts, a man with no political experience and virtually no name recognition.

Roberts, a 65-year-old computer programmer in Daytona Beach, said his only expense was some newspaper ads, which competed with Chappell's signs, posters, buttons, paid campaign workers and television ads.

''I didn't expect too much,'' Roberts said, adding that he figured he would get one-fourth of the vote. ''Thirty percent was a little better than I anticipated.''

James said he plans a vigorous campaign against the 10-term incumbent, hammering away at ethical questions numerous newspaper and television stories have raised about Chappell and his relationship to defense contractors.

Chappell, chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, denies any wrongdoing in the ongoing defense procurement probe and says he is not under investigation.

Nevertheless, James said he plans to hit Chappell hard with the allegations. ''His Chappell's only answer has been 'that's bunk.' Not true,'' James said. ''We need a person who sets a standard of ethics.''